NURS 8502 Week 9 Discussion Change Champions

Walden University NURS 8502 Week 9 Discussion Change Champions-Step-By-Step Guide

This guide will demonstrate how to complete the Walden University NURS 8502 Week 9 Discussion Change Champions assignment based on general principles of academic writing. Here, we will show you the A, B, Cs of completing an academic paper, irrespective of the instructions. After guiding you through what to do, the guide will leave one or two sample essays at the end to highlight the various sections discussed below.

How to Research and Prepare for NURS 8502 Week 9 Discussion Change Champions                           

Whether one passes or fails an academic assignment such as the Walden University NURS 8502 Week 9 Discussion Change Champions depends on the preparation done beforehand. The first thing to do once you receive an assignment is to quickly skim through the requirements. Once that is done, start going through the instructions one by one to clearly understand what the instructor wants. The most important thing here is to understand the required format—whether it is APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.

After understanding the requirements of the paper, the next phase is to gather relevant materials. The first place to start the research process is the weekly resources. Go through the resources provided in the instructions to determine which ones fit the assignment. After reviewing the provided resources, use the university library to search for additional resources. After gathering sufficient and necessary resources, you are now ready to start drafting your paper.

How to Write the Introduction for NURS 8502 Week 9 Discussion Change Champions                         

The introduction for the Walden University NURS 8502 Week 9 Discussion Change Champions is where you tell the instructor what your paper will encompass. In three to four statements, highlight the important points that will form the basis of your paper. Here, you can include statistics to show the importance of the topic you will be discussing. At the end of the introduction, write a clear purpose statement outlining what exactly will be contained in the paper. This statement will start with “The purpose of this paper…” and then proceed to outline the various sections of the instructions.

How to Write the Body for NURS 8502 Week 9 Discussion Change Champions                         

After the introduction, move into the main part of the NURS 8502 Week 9 Discussion Change Champions assignment, which is the body. Given that the paper you will be writing is not experimental, the way you organize the headings and subheadings of your paper is critically important. In some cases, you might have to use more subheadings to properly organize the assignment. The organization will depend on the rubric provided. Carefully examine the rubric, as it will contain all the detailed requirements of the assignment. Sometimes, the rubric will have information that the normal instructions lack.

Another important factor to consider at this point is how to do citations. In-text citations are fundamental as they support the arguments and points you make in the paper. At this point, the resources gathered at the beginning will come in handy. Integrating the ideas of the authors with your own will ensure that you produce a comprehensive paper. Also, follow the given citation format. In most cases, APA 7 is the preferred format for nursing assignments.

How to Write the Conclusion for NURS 8502 Week 9 Discussion Change Champions                         

After completing the main sections, write the conclusion of your paper. The conclusion is a summary of the main points you made in your paper. However, you need to rewrite the points and not simply copy and paste them. By restating the points from each subheading, you will provide a nuanced overview of the assignment to the reader.

How to Format the References List for NURS 8502 Week 9 Discussion Change Champions                           

The very last part of your paper involves listing the sources used in your paper. These sources should be listed in alphabetical order and double-spaced. Additionally, use a hanging indent for each source that appears in this list. Lastly, only the sources cited within the body of the paper should appear here.

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Sample Answer for NURS 8502 Week 9 Discussion Change Champions

Change champions and opinion leaders are fundamental personalities in implementing a change with a certain organization. Change champions include the people who volunteered or were selected by an organization to facilitate a change. The champions play an active role in all the stages of the change management project. These individuals embrace the need for change and are motivated to advocate, facilitate, and support the team tasked with executing the required changes. Change champions can come from any rank within the organization, with research stressing the importance of adopting champions from multiple levels of the organization (“Role of a Champion,” 2022). Thus, it is important to note that change champions should come from the management position and lower ranks of the organization.

Change champions participate in various critical functions, including introducing a change, advocating and promoting the strategies facilitating the change, and implementing policies and measures of the change. They are essential communicators in the whole change process and are always motivated to prevent de-escalations of conflict. They champion problem-solving to eliminate barriers to change and create the required environment to facilitate the change (“Role of a Champion,” 2022). Change champions participate in various processes relating to change, such as promoting the strategies for change, supporting the ideas, and motivating other people involved in the change implementation process.

There are differences between a change champion and an opinion leader. While change champions are people involved in implementing ideas relating to a change, an opinion is an individual with specific mastery skills concerning a specific industry or market and has built trust within the population as a decision-maker or an industry insider (“Opinion Leader,” 2021). These people are influential, meaning that they have built a large audience who believe in their views. For example, in the current project regarding implementing a change that seeks to reduce benzodiazepine (BZD), the champion may include healthcare workers from Umass Memorial Community Health Link in Massachusetts. At the same time, opinion leaders maybe business leaders with vast experience in the healthcare industry or a celebrity like LeBron James and Cristiano Ronaldo, to mention but a few. It, therefore, goes without saying that an opinion leader is a person with a strong social media presence, which is not always the case with change champions. Reputable business leaders and celebrities have the power to influence an audience, and that’s why most companies prefer them to drive their brand forward.

Resources Needed to Support Proposed Changes

After meeting with the stakeholders, I found that Umass Memorial Community Health Link in Massachusetts clients are using BZD as a long-term treatment regime for mental disorders. At the same time, CDC recommends short-term use of the drug for less than six months and discontinuing its usage because it leads to long-term effects. Therefore, this project aims to implement a change that promotes the proper use of BZD as a short-term adjunctive medication for psychological conditions. Various resources are required to execute these changes, including healthcare workers, trainers, money, and training materials. An opinion leader may also be fundamental in facilitating the necessary change for several reasons. First, these people have a sense of charisma and the capacity to influence many people. Besides, they are well knowledgeable and respectable, meaning that they can easily convey information regarding the change. A change champion is also a crucial resource in implementing the strategies related to the change, improving communication, and solving problems related to the change.

References

“Definition and The Role of a Champion”. The Role Of Champions Within The Change Process, 2022, http://639969719114303356.weebly.com/definition-and-the-role-of-a-champion.html.

“What Are Opinion Leaders and Why Is Their Influence Important?”. Indeed Career Guide, 2021, https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/opinion-leader.

Sample Answer 2 for NURS 8502 Week 9 Discussion Change Champions

In the past eight weeks, I have evaluated that the high incidence of pressure ulcers among people living in assisted facilities is a significant concern. There are various interventions to reduce pressure ulcers, but most nurses lack the knowledge and awareness to implement such interventions. Therefore, the proposed practice is to implement an educational program to improve knowledge and awareness among nurses on pressure ulcer prevention techniques. However, such change cannot take place in a silo. A change must have a leader and champion to initiate, lead and support the change.

Even though change champions and opinion leaders are different, they play a crucial role in supporting the implementation of change. According to Bonawitz et al. (2020), change champions have long been regarded as critical facilitators for successful change efforts in healthcare. By description, change champions refer to a person who volunteers to lead the change. An example of a change champion is a nurse staff implementing an education program to enlighten nurses on pressure ulcer prevention techniques. A change champion comes from within the organization and can quickly build organizational support, coalition, and support for new practices. Change champion identifies the gap and inefficiency in the healthcare system and secures the needed resources to bridge the gap. Change champion has a better understanding of the change and the context to facilitate more successful efforts for change. A change champion also brings forward change and ensures that services continuously improve and work towards a better standard, benefiting both the health service and its users.

When it comes to opinion leaders, these are people with strong influence, reliable, and trusted by others. Opinion leaders do not identify the practice gap and do not mobilize resources like change champions. Instead, opinion leaders have mastered specific industries such as healthcare and have created a trust that enables them to influence their audience (Raymond et al., 2018). The opinion leader can be people who directly contact the community members (Raymond et al., 2018). Examples of opinion leaders are leaders of women groups, elders, chiefs, and assembly members. The opinion leaders are trusted resources to help give insight when needed and, therefore, can influence the behavior to inspire a particular response or action.

Finally, the success of the above-proposed practice change in implementing a training program to enhance knowledge and awareness of pressure ulcer prevention depends on human resources.    Human resources are needed to implement the training program, manage variable shifts and implement policies that support pressure ulcer prevention in assisted facility living (Al-Abbadi, 2018). Human resources are needed to facilitate the learning and development of the employee’s pressure ulcer prevention techniques. HR and nurse managers can advise different development plans required to support the proposed practice change (Al-Abbadi, 2018).

References

Al-Abbadi, L. H. M. (2018). Impact of Human Resources Management Practices on Organizational Commitment of the Employees of Commercial Banks in Jordan. Global Journal of Management and Business Research, 18(4),11-21.

Bonawitz, K., Wetmore, M., Heisler, M., Dalton, V. K., Damschroder, L. J., Forman, J., Allan, K. R., Moniz, M. H. (2020). Champions in context: which attributes matter for change efforts in healthcare?. Implementation Science: Is, 15, 1, 62.

Raymond A. Aborigo, Daniel D. Reidpath, Abraham R. Oduro, & Pascale Allotey. (2018). Male involvement in maternal health: perspectives of opinion leaders. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 18, 1, 1-10.

Sample Answer 3 for NURS 8502 Week 9 Discussion Change Champions

Differences between change champions and opinion leaders:

A change champion is a member of the project team who actively promotes and implements the desired change. Conversely, an opinion leader is an influential person who promotes change by persuading others to use evidence-based practice and to implement needed changes. However, the opinion leader is not part of the project management team and does not actively assist with the change (Flodgren et al., 2019). Crane et al. (2021) assert that opinion leaders are valuable due to their ability to improve health promotion campaigns.

Describe the human resources that may be necessary to support your proposed practice changes:

The implementation of peer-assisted learning will require change champions in both the clinical and academic settings. The facility will need to have at least one preceptor on the project team to represent the viewpoint of the group. This person will also play an important role in communicating the change to other preceptors with a positive perspective. Additional preceptors who are supportive of the change should be identified to help motivate others to make the change successful and quash any negativity towards the project. It will be equally important to have change champions in the academic arena as well. Preferably, at least one in each of the three nursing schools the facility partners with. This will be important because the capstone students will need to be sufficiently prepared for the peer-assisted learning process as this will be a different experience than what they would have previously experienced.

Leadership support will also be critical to the project’s success. Because the project involves students, leadership support will be needed from both the nursing programs and the facility. Sharma et al. (2018) state that leadership support is positively associated with successful change management; therefore, buy-in from leadership will be paramount.

 References

Crane, M. E., Atkins, M. S., Becker, S. J., Purtle, J., Olino, T. M., & Kendall, P. C. (2021). The effect of caregiver key opinion leaders on increasing caregiver demand for evidence-based practices to treat youth anxiety: Protocol for a randomized control trial. Implementation Science Communications, 2(1), 107-119. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43058-021-00213-x

Flodgren, G., O’Brien, M. A., Parmelli, E., & Grimshaw, J. M. (2019). Local opinion leaders: Effects on professional practice and healthcare outcomes. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 6(6), CD000125. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD000125.pub5

Sharma, N., Herrnschmidt, J., Claes, V., Bachnick, S., De Geest, S., & Simon, M. (2018). Organizational readiness for implementing change in acute care hospitals: An analysis of a cross-sectional, multicentre study. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 74, 2798-2808. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.13801